We have a wireless network set up at home. A new Medialink Wireless N Router (but the issue existed under the old router, too).

My wife and I both have Windows 7 Home Premium. I've set up a Homegroup with the two of us, and in addition, we're sharing certain folders. Both of us are running Dell XPS computers less than a year old -- hers a desktop and mine a laptop. Both of us have internet access without trouble.

The problem is that her computer usually shows up in my network at first but then gets dropped. Then I can't access files on her computer, and I can't print on her USB printer. The odd thing is that even when that happens, she can still see my computer on the network and access my files.

I thought at first that it might be a problem with the McAfee crap that Dell installs on new computers, but the settings in the firewall appear to be OK. (Access is permitted to 192.168.0.0 through -.255.) And the settings are essentially the same in the two computers.

I was going to remove McAfee and install a free antivirus and ZoneAlarm, but the reports about the current version of ZA are horrible. And besides, I don't even know whether McAfee is the culprit. As I said, I suspected the router until I remembered having the same problem with the old router in the past week or two.

Joined: Sat May 07, 2011 12:30 pmPosts: 1922Location: A place not actively occupied by something else.

For free anti-virus, AVG is pretty good.What was your previous router? Is the PC being dropped using wifi or wired?I personally don't use a homegroup (A combination of Linux PCs and the fact that our printer is wifi enabled already and thus does not need manual sharing).

Thanks. I've used AVG many times before. Is the Windows 7 firewall decent?

Both computers are connected by wireless. It's kind of a metaphysical question which one is being dropped, because my wife can see mine from her computer, but I can't see hers from mine. Who's on the network, and who isn't?

It actually goes in and out. Last night, when I logged on, I couldn't see her computer, but later in the evening, I could.

And it doesn't matter whether we use the homegroup, because her computer isn't listed in the network, as seen from my computer, and I think that's why the homegroup doesn't work from my computer.

The previous router was a D-Link 624 (some letters I can't remember offhand).

Joined: Sat May 07, 2011 12:30 pmPosts: 1922Location: A place not actively occupied by something else.

Was the new router new new or used new?Did you reset everything?Did you try deleting and re-creating the saved connection profile?Basic questions, but I don't want to tell you to do something that will make the system die.Also, what are the wireless adapters (Brand, model number, etc.) and does the problem go away when you plug one (or both) the computers into the router via CAT5e (Ethernet)?This is probably a software problem, but we still should make sure.When your wife gets dropped, can she still access google etc? Can you?

I'm going to need to test this over the weekend, but a quick clarification. It's a weird problem because each of us is always connected to the internet. It's just the internal network that's flaky. She can always see me on the network, but I often lose her.

When you can't see her on the network, try accessing her computer through the network share name (i.e., type \\<her-computer-name>\<share-name> into the address bar of explorer) to see if the share just isn't showing up in the GUI, or if the connection is blocked somehow (I've had similar problems before; it was never a big enough of a problem for me to hunt down a solution though).

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